Colle McVoy announced today that, after nearly 17 years as CEO, Christine Fruechte will become chair of Colle McVoy, a strategic advisory position. Jessica Henrichs, who currently serves as the agency’s president, will be elevated to CEO effective Jan. 1, 2025. 

Fruechte was tapped to run the then MDC Partners-owned agency (now Stagwell owned) in 2007, as president, when the organization was financially strained and heading into a recession. At the time, the agency was primarily serving B2B clients. 

She led a transformation effort that broadened the client portfolio, expanded its integrated capabilities and doubled down on a people-first culture, where employees were encouraged to be themselves and management was encouraged to trust that employees would get the job done. An agency’s culture, she said, “really matters.” 

During her tenure, revenue at the agency nearly tripled and earnings have increased sixfold, through September of this year.  The agency has quadrupled BIPOC representation, from 7% to 28% of its workforce within the same timeframe. The agency became a B Corporation in 2023. 

The management transition process has been a years-long effort. Fruechte said she began planning for it a decade ago, gradually bringing in next-generation leaders.  

Fruechte met Henrichs, a Publicis Groupe veteran, seven years ago and was immediately impressed with her energy, intellect and “change-agent” mentality. 

The time wasn’t right for Henrichs to join the agency then but in 2019 she joined as managing director and head of client growth. Two years later she was named president. 

Fruechte credits Henrichs with being an “an undeniable force in Colle McVoy’s explosive growth over the past five years, winning over big-name brands and stewarding molecular-level transformation...From our first conversation, I knew Jess would take the agency to places we’ve never been before.” 

“Christine is proof that people-first and profitable are possible,” shares Henrichs. “This culture she’s built of camaraderie, trust and joyful restlessness for reinvention – it’s not a foundation, it’s a springboard.” 

Her job, she adds, “is to honor what’s been established and catalyze the momentum we have.” 

The Minneapolis-based agency is about to announce a new Chicago hub. The agency’s flexible, hybrid and agile midsize model – and support from parent Stagwell when needed – enables it to serve any client’s needs, says Heinrichs. But she’s not standing pat. In the near term she’s working with her team on where to place “big bets” on capabilities and devising a “clear vision and road map for 2025.”